Roubaix Bike Crash

One lapse of concentration...

Gent-Wevelgem 2009

Mick Barry Norman and Charles wait on the side of the Zwartberg for the Gent-Wevelgem race 2009 that never came

Another triumph for Clarencourt organization. Barry Gregory, Paul Martin, Mick Ayliffe, Norman Luhr & Charles van de Steene met in Westouter at 1230 to watch Gent-Wevelgem. The pubs were shut so we left the village and went up onto the Zwartberg to the restaurant we used last year. It had changed into a camping shop. We found another place for beers and pasta. At 2pm we wandered down onto the hill and tied ourselves to a lamppost so we wouldn’t fall down the bank into the race as they stormed by. The same kids with learning disabilities from the local institution (the Tom Boonen fans) were opposite us just like last year. We had a great view down the hill. About 2.15 the race TV helicopter appeared over Westouter village square at the bottom of the hill and then surprisingly moved off to our right. No cars or riders came up the hill. A lady said something in Flemish and everyone made that Flemish scoffing noise. The race wasn’t coming up our hill this year. They had turned sharp left leaving the square in Westouter onto a tiny road straight up the side of the Rodeberg! So it was straight round to the local cafe where we sat for the rest of the afternoon and watched a very good Gent-Wevelgem on Tele. Bye Bye to dear old Charles and home at 11pm. Thanks to Barry for driving.

Some things never change...

Chairman still trying to get away from Secretary!

Smiling Jim of Penge in the garden of England

Top cycle fashion

from the CTC...

Top cycle fashion
From next Thursday, CTC Member Sarah Buck and her business partner Amy Fleuriot’s company Cyclodelic will be stocking unique and handmade cycle accessories at TopShop in Oxford Circus. To celebrate their designs hitting the high street, they are also organising the ‘ Cyclodelic Champagne Bicycle Treasure Hunt’ on Thursday 16 April at 7pm at Middleton Place, London W1.

http://cyclodelic.wordpress.com

Saturday Sportive Training ride to Summers Ponds with a short diversion on the way home to look at Itchingifeld Parish Church with Timber Bell Tower

Itchingfield Church and Sumner's Ponds

Sundays Mountain Bike Ride to Oxted

Outside Wetherspoons at Oxted and in lane south of Godstone

Spring Idyll

Merle Common Sunday 29th March 2009

Guildford - Brighton - Guildford

A 90 mile(ish) one day ride on what is almost the longest day of the year and one week after the London to Brighton cycle ride. I did the ride a few years ago, from just south of Guildford starting at Bramley, it is a good day out.


Proposed (rough) itinerary

9.00am Start from Guildford Station, road to Bramley

9.30am Off-road to Bramber on 'Downs Link'

12.30pm Shoreham by bridleway, road to Brighton

1.00pm Lunch in Brighton

3.00pm Return by same route or return home by train

6.30pm Bramley

7.00pm Guildford


There are a few variables...

Bike
I have done the ride on a mountain bike and a cyclocross single-speed but you could also use an old fashioned 'rough stuff' or touring bike providing the tyres had some grip and you took the guards off.

Route
If we detour from Guildford to St Martha's Hill, the start of the Downs Link, I think it will rule out any bike but a MTB and will add a lot of time in. I don't think it is necessary to the day but let me know your thoughts.

Restaurant
I need people's opinions on whether we should try and book anywhere up. It will depend on numbers and whether any want to drive down to meet us in Brighton and just meet for the meal.

Non-riders
Members who would like to drive down could, potentially, have a few places in cars for people who don't want to cycle back or have had too enthusiastic a lunch!

Numbers
It would good to know how many are interested, I will put up a 'closing date' a few weeks before.

There is a good pdf file with Downs Link mapping available from www.westsussex.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/prow/pdfs/DownsLinkRouteGuide.pdf

The day is a 'work in progress' so your comments will be welcome.

Help the Aged

With the recession biting look what can be found in Ashtead's Help the Aged charity shop

Blogging!

Blogging is one way of broadcasting on the web. It is a series of 'posts' and 'comments' about a common theme (ie Clarencourt Cycling Club). You can 'post' a story onto the blog and get then get 'comments' back about it. The 'comments' are linked to the 'post' and so anybody reading the post can see the history of the conversation. Rather than 'comment' you could 'post' a reply yourself which could then get 'comments'.

An example: I will 'post' information about the proposed 'Guildford-Brighton-Guildford' day out on the blog. The advantage to me is that I can put a wide range of material about it and then wait for people's questions (or 'comments'). The questions (ie, can I use a touring bike for the trip?) will be seen by anybody prompting them to ask further questions that in turn will be seen by everybody and so we can organise the event in a very organic way.

The trick is to get people used to looking at the blog every week or even every day if there is a lot going on. A 'post' can be text, images, both, links to interesting sites or articles, video..etc the list is extensive. The blog supplements the newsletter and the website and also, to a certain extent; email, telephone, face-to-face contact, club nights and 'word of mouth' - although this is a quite a list of ways of contacting people it is clear that different methods will suit different people in different situations (we haven't even mentioned Facebook yet! but it may be worth considering a page if we want to attract new and younger members).

Have a go (see below), and don't be worried if it 'goes wrong'. If you have any problems let me know and I'll go through it with you. Lastly, you need to ensure that if there is anyone in the club without access to a computer that they might be interested in hearing about what is going on to - don't forget about them.

Steve


You need a Google account to use the blog to either 'post' or 'comment':
To set up a Google Account go to:
http://www.google.co.uk
and hit
Sign in on the top right, you will be taken to a default page
hit
Don't have a Google Account? Create an account now
you will be taken to a page where you set up an account, its quick, easy and free. With a Google account you get access to all kinds of stuff which is not the subject of this email. You can also get to the blog through your Google Accounts page as well, go to Blogger under My Products and remember you can sign in and out whenever you like.


To write a 'comment':
Go to the website www.clarencourt.com and hit the READ OUR BLOG button or go to http://clarencourt.blogspot.com and click on the comments link of the relevant 'post', (the link is found at the bottom right of each post), write in the box provided, sign in then hit PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT.


To write a 'post':
Go to the website www.clarencourt.com and hit the READ OUR BLOG button or go to http://clarencourt.blogspot.com and sign in.

Once you are signed in there are quite a few options but the only ones you need concern yourself about are:

NEW POST - Allows you to upload text, images and video and put in links to other things on the web, just type in what you would like to say and hit PUBLISH POST. You will be told if it is successful and asked if you want to view the blog, edit it or create another new post.

Edit Post - Allows you to edit your post or delete it, it is generally the administrative section of the blog not seen by the public.

View Blog - Allows you to view the blog.